old?..chain and square nail day

[castletonking]

I was at the 18th century honey hole today,it was square nail sunday,i found a bunch,also found this chain,no idea on the age,could be 20 years old it could be 100.any chain experts out there,that might have any ideas? but ya not a terribly productive day,but any day detecting is a day i'm not at work.everythings shiny because i tried to wash the dirt off,the chain was approx 4 inches deep in the soil.

 

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[worldtalker]

C, I beleve that is a clevis of some sort,is that a hex nut in the middle of the two eyes?

 

[Mystro7]

I have found old logging chain, one being 20 feet long. old chains were hand forged, you will not see any seam like you see on modern chains. Looks like yours may be hand forged but I cant tell in pic. Im not a chain expert but its easy to tell the old from modern. The best way to polish logging chains in my opinion is to drag them behind your vehicle on a dirt road. It takes all the rust off and looks virtually unused,or aged. I dont know how well that would work for small chains unless you thought of a way to wieght it down so it doesnt fly evrywhere when being dragged. Just my 10 cents.

 

[castletonking]

C, I beleve that is a clevis of some sort,is that a hex nut in the middle of the two eyes?

yup it is a hex nut,the metal is black and crystalized it appears

 

[castletonking]

I have found old logging chain, one being 20 feet long. old chains were hand forged, you will not see any seam like you see on modern chains. Looks like yours may be hand forged but I cant tell in pic. Im not a chain expert but its easy to tell the old from modern. The best way to polish logging chains in my opinion is to drag them behind your vehicle on a dirt road. It takes all the rust off and looks virtually unused,or aged. I dont know how well that would work for small chains unless you thought of a way to wieght it down so it doesnt fly evrywhere when being dragged. Just my 10 cents.

definately no seams

 

[duggap]

The old timers always told me that the elongated, narrow links like yours are generally considered the old ones, even dating before the civil war.

 

[castletonking]

The old timers always told me that the elongated, narrow links like yours are generally considered the old ones, even dating before the civil war.

that fits in with the time period of the area i detect and the age of the coins and other relics pulled from the area.

 

[BosnMate]

It's a piece of trace chain. The harness has leather straps, one down each side of the horse, that are called the tugs. The swivel or flattened link on the end is where the tug was attached to the chain. On the other end of the chain there was a larger metal ring that fit onto the single tree. It's hard to explain, but it sure looks like trace chain. Google horse harness and you can probably see a picture or two of what I'm saying.

 

[castletonking]

It's a piece of trace chain. The harness has leather straps, one down each side of the horse, that are called the tugs. The swivel or flattened link on the end is where the tug was attached to the chain. On the other end of the chain there was a larger metal ring that fit onto the single tree. It's hard to explain, but it sure looks like trace chain. Google horse harness and you can probably see a picture or two of what I'm saying.

any idea of a possible age? there are no seams,it appears to be hand forged

 

[creskol]

That is actually a heel chain, the chain that would breech the end of the trace to whatever implement the draft horse might be attached to.
The "clevis portion" is called a "cockeye." Those long straight-link chains, as opposed to a twist link chain, are called Liberty Coil Chains.
Your heel chain could date anywhere from the mid 1800's to as late as the 1920's.

 

[castletonking]

That is actually a heel chain, the chain that would breech the end of the trace to whatever implement the draft horse might be attached to.
The "clevis portion" is called a "cockeye." Those long straight-link chains, as opposed to a twist link chain, are called Liberty Coil Chains.
Your heel chain could date anywhere from the mid 1800's to as late as the 1920's.

awsome,the earlier dates fit into the time period of the relics i'm finding as well as the coins,1794 reale,1841 large cent,indian heads from the 1860's. thanks for the info

 

[worldtalker]

That is actually a heel chain, the chain that would breech the end of the trace to whatever implement the draft horse might be attached to.
The "clevis portion" is called a "cockeye." Those long straight-link chains, as opposed to a twist link chain, are called Liberty Coil Chains.
Your heel chain could date anywhere from the mid 1800's to as late as the 1920's.

awsome,the earlier dates fit into the time period of the relics i'm finding as well as the coins,1794 reale,1841 large cent,indian heads from the 1860's. thanks for the info

c, There is the find of a lifetime lurking there somewhere,and, I hope YOU find it!!!!!!!! God Bless Be Safe HH Chris

 

[castletonking]

That is actually a heel chain, the chain that would breech the end of the trace to whatever implement the draft horse might be attached to.
The "clevis portion" is called a "cockeye." Those long straight-link chains, as opposed to a twist link chain, are called Liberty Coil Chains.
Your heel chain could date anywhere from the mid 1800's to as late as the 1920's.

awsome,the earlier dates fit into the time period of the relics i'm finding as well as the coins,1794 reale,1841 large cent,indian heads from the 1860's. thanks for the info

c, There is the find of a lifetime lurking there somewhere,and, I hope YOU find it!!!!!!!! God Bless Be Safe HH Chris

it's a virgin site,i'm hoping i do as well

 

[BosnMate]

That is actually a heel chain, the chain that would breech the end of the trace to whatever implement the draft horse might be attached to.
The "clevis portion" is called a "cockeye." Those long straight-link chains, as opposed to a twist link chain, are called Liberty Coil Chains.
Your heel chain could date anywhere from the mid 1800's to as late as the 1920's.

I'd never heard of a heel chain, so I looked it up, and you are right, it's a heel chain. Both a trace chain and a heel chain have swivel D's on them, but the trace chain is much longer, and has a ring on the opposite end. Both are on the harness at the same location, and are for the same purpose. The harness I googled called what you call a "cockeye" a "swivel D." Until now, I never knew what it was called. Which is neither here nor there. Depending on where a person lives can influence what something is called -- for example some people say "girth," but everyone I know calls the same thing a "cinch." At one time I had a set of surplus Army harness, probably from the 30's or even the 40's. I owned the harness in the early 60's. I let it go when I sold the wagon, and many a time I've wished for them back. The trace chain on that harness had a swivel D, and 9 or 10 links up from the ring, there was another swivel between the links that would keep the chain from twisting, and this swivel had a raised US on it. There was also 2 round brass buttons on the head stall that had a raised US on it The chain sure looks hand forged to me. Back in the days of working horses, if a guy needed a weapon, they would take the ring and leave 9 links and cut it off the trace chain. Then putting the middle two fingers through the ring they could deliver a sever beating.